Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers Should Hash Out Trade With Rajon Rondo

The Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers have been linked recently around Rajon Rondo.

Previously, one of the Boston Celtics greats, Cedric Maxwell, went over the radio airwaves to present his information on the Celtics-Rajon Rondo talk. Maxwell told Yahoo! sports that Rondo is desiring a $100 million contract, which leaves the Celtics no choice but to trade him.

So here's my possible blockbuster.

The Indiana Pacers, who has Larry Bird running the front office operations, has some interest in snagging Boston's general. Back in March, Larry Legend told reporters how he felt about Rondo.

"He's a very good player; he's been great for a long time," Bird said. "It's always good to sit here and daydream and have a wish-list, but how are you going to pay these guys?"

Recently, that notion revolves around Rondo. He wants too much for the Celtics' liking.

On Thursday, Marc Stein of ESPN reported that Zach Lowe of Grantland.com hears a possible trade with mutliple teams, including Boston and Indiana, could have a deal in the works involving Rondo.

Whispers are already out there, @ZachLowe_NBA, about Indy trying to pull in Boston to construct some sort of multi-team deal involving Rondo

If Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge wants to make sparklers start glistening and make some noise for the future of the franchise, a trade around Rondo for Roy Hibbert and Lance Stephenson (sign-and-trade) should come into play.

Why would it work for both sides?

Since Rondo is seeking a max contract, and with unknown about the Celtics' contending chances, there may be some leverage on Indiana's chances to win now. For Bird to strike a deal with one of his favorite point guards to watch in the NBA, Ainge would have to live with trading Rondo to a contender, which hasn't really affected him too much with Ray Allen winning a title and Doc Rivers having minor success in Los Angeles.

Boston would have to put the sour taste of putting wtheir point guard in the same conference out of their mouth, but the Celtics would do it for multiple reasons. Hibbert is arguably one of the greatest defensive centers in the game (exception: Eastern Conference Finals meltdown). Boston's are increasingly searching for a big man who can defend and Hibbert would fill that void perfectly, especially after losing out on Omer Asik and others.

Another player that would be teaming up in Boston is Stephenson, who is drawing interest from the Celtics as of late. A backcourt foursome of Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley (if not traded), James Young and Stephenson would give the Celtics that fire, leverage to defend and score the basketball with ease.

Stephenson is reportedly looking for around $10 million annually, which could be a major factor in these discussions.

But, nevertheless, Ainge needs to decide on Rondo. Does he wait to build on his value over the course of next season, or does he take a package to create something entertaining and trade worthy? Looks like many will have to wait on this rumor to become true.

Mark Loiselle Jr. is a Celtics beat writer for CLNS Radio. He currently has a radio show called "The Sports Blast" on ESPN Radio in Nashua, New Hampshire, and writes for The Phinsider. In the past, his work has been published on NESN.com, Phinphanatic.com and Atlantic Twine.

Mark is a Warwick, Rhode Island native who recently graduated from Springfield College with a degree in communications/sports journalism. You can follow Mark on Twitter @mahkeyL34